Toronto Criminal Lawyer - Dismissal of Cause Disturbance Charges

Sherry's Case — Cause Disturbance — Dismissed

Client:   Sherry S., widowed mom with three boys
Complainant:   Sherry's neighbour
Charges:   Causing a Disturbance and Threatening to Cause Death

Background: Sherry's neighbour had mistakenly blamed Sherry's son for throwing peanut butter in their pool. This was a serious allegation because the neighbour's son had a severe nut allergy, with exposure potentially causing death. The neighbour refused to accept that she had made a mistake in blaming Sherry's son. As a result, there was bad blood between the two for some months. On the Halloween night, Sherry found herself at this neighbour's door with her youngest son trick-or-treating. She wanted to clear the air between them, and decided to discuss the peanut butter incident. Suffice to say, things did not go well. There was much shouting, and Sherry was doing most of the shouting. The neighbour afterwards called the police, and alleged that Sherry had said she would send her son to school every day with peanut butter. Sherry was charged with causing a disturbance and uttering a death threat.

Goals: Sherry's instructions were very clear. She wanted to beat these charges. She also made it clear that she did not want to sign a peace bond, and was prepared to take the case to trial if necessary.

Strategy: The threatening charge was groundless. The words attributed to Sherry, even if true, could not amount to a criminal threat. Even before the first Court appearance, the Crown had agreed not to proceed with that charge. The cause-disturbance charge, however, was more of a problem. There is often a blurred line between conduct which causes a disturbance and conduct which does not. Not all Judges take the same approach. There was definitely a risk that a Judge might find that Sherry's conduct did "disturb" the peace of the area that night, find her guilty, and sentence her accordingly. The Crown had offered to withdraw the cause-disturbance charge if Sherry entered into a peace bond. Sherry refused because she felt that a peace bond would amount to a slight upon her character and would be constantly thrown in her face around the neighbourhood. We scheduled the trial, and patiently waited for our day in Court.

Results — Round One: The trial took place over three days. The Judge did not believe all of Sherry's testimony, but acquitted because Sherry's conduct fell short of that required for a criminal conviction.

Results — Round Two: The Crown was not happy with the trial judge's decision, and lanched an appeal. The Crown's appeal was dismissed the same day it was argued.